Foreign wind farms cause uproar in Mexican
villages
6 April 2013, by Victor Ruiz
Mexican Wind Energy Association (Amdee). Today,
it has grown to 1,400 megawatts, with a goal of
12,000 megawatts by 2020, representing 15
percent of the nation's energy.
But some indigenous groups have blocked two
projects in Oaxaca, including one that would
become Latin America's biggest wind farm, fearing
that they would wreck fishing and farming while
dividing people over the rent payments.
"They have upended the life of the villagers in the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec by interfering with their
daily work," Carlos Beas Torres, head of the Union
of Northern Zone Isthmus Communities, told AFP.
Picture taken on November 29, 2011 of wind turbines in
northern Ethiopia. Foreign energy firms have flocked to a
narrow region of southern Mexico, known as one of the
world's windiest places, to build towering wind turbines,
but some projects have angered and torn indigenous
villages.
"Women and men have been pitted against each
other, because the Mexican and multinational
companies that have invested here have taken
advantage of a lack of information among natives of
the area to lease their land for 1,000 pesos ($82)
an hectare per year," he said.
There are 18 wind farms in operation in Mexico,
with another nine under construction and a dozen
more in development, according to Amdee
president Adrian Escofet.
Foreign energy firms have flocked to a narrow
region of southern Mexico, known as one of the
world's windiest places, to build towering wind
turbines, but some projects have angered and torn
The great majority are in Oaxaca, with its isthmus,
indigenous villages.
flanked by the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico,
The construction of wind farms has soared across providing powerful winds for the turbines to churn
Mexico, with the gusty Isthmus of Tehuantepec in out energy.
the state of Oaxaca attracting investors from as far
as Europe, Japan and Australia.
The projects are a key part of Mexico's efforts to
combat climate change, one of the priorities of
former president Felipe Calderon that has been
picked up by his successor, Enrique Pena Nieto,
who took office in December.
This renewable energy had a capacity of just two
megawatts nationwide in 2006, according to
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But its construction has been delayed by opponents
concerned about the impact of giant turbines
popping up on a strip of beach between the Pacific
and a lagoon full of fish.
A community assembly voted to back the project in
February, but opponents believe the meeting "was
manipulated," Beas Torres said.
Fenosa and Marena both deny that their projects
would harm fishing or the environment, noting that
the environment ministry approved them and that
they would plant new trees.
Wind turbines in northeastern Brazil on December 11,
2012. Foreign energy firms have flocked to a narrow
region of southern Mexico, known as one of the world's
windiest places, to build towering wind turbines, but some
projects have angered and torn indigenous villages.
The firms say landowners are being paid to use
their land and that they remain open to dialogue,
while the projects would help all the communities
by producing clean energy and creating jobs.
"We believe that this is an incredible project that will
benefit everybody," said Jonathan Davis Arzac,
head of the Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure
But their presence has angered some of the Ikoots Fund, an arm of the Australian financial firm
and Zapoetcos indigenous populations, with some Macquarie Group, which is part of the Marena
protests turning violent.
project.
Last week, more than 20 people were injured when "There are no losers in this cases, there can only
police clashed with a group of protesters who have be winners," he said in a video posted on the
been blocking a road leading to the projects.
company's website, adding that the consortium had
done a bad job of explaining the project to the local
The blockade, which began on February 25, has
population.
been opposed by shopkeepers on a beach that
cars can no longer reach, saying it has hurt their
In a February statement, Marena Renovables said
sales.
energy production would bring San Dionisio del Mar
The shop owners back the wind farms, arguing it
would benefit the community, including a
117-turbine, 234-megawatt wind farm funded by
Spain's Gas Natural Fenosa.
between $1.2 million and $1.4 million per year in
addition to lease payments of 1,000 pesos ($82)
per hectare of land.
The secretary general of the Oaxaca state
government, Javier Martinez Alvarez, said
In December, villagers in San Dionisio del Mar
discussions were under way to resume
clashed with sticks and stones, leaving five injured, construction.
over a mega-project by Marena Renovables, a
consortium of Mexican, Australian and Japanese
"I think that the conflicts that we have can be
investors, including Mitsubishi.
resolved by negotiating," Amdee's Escofet told
AFP.
With 132 turbines producing 396 megawatts of
energy, it would become the biggest wind farm in
Latin America.
(c) 2013 AFP
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APA citation: Foreign wind farms cause uproar in Mexican villages (2013, April 6) retrieved 16 June 2017
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